Five Toronto police officers, including two who were Muslim liaison officers at the Toronto Police Service, were disciplined for saying on an official police podcast on March 10, 2025, that Oct. 7 was inspiring an “unbelievable” number of people to convert to Islam, the National Post reported.
The Post reported that Farhan Ali and Haroon Siddiqui, the liaisons, and three supervisors were found to have committed professional misconduct in an official report dated June 3. An investigation document was received July 31, it reported.
B’nai Brith Canada said that it “welcomes the findings included in the York Regional Police investigation into the inappropriate comments made by Toronto police officers on a podcast in 2025.” (JNS sought comment from the Toronto Police Service and the York Regional Police.)
“These comments concerned many in the Jewish community, and as the findings reveal, they violated the high standards we must all expect of our law enforcement officers,” the group said. “It is concerning that, according to the report, the officers in question declined to provide written evidence or participate in the investigation in a meaningful fashion.”
“This incident underscores the importance of antisemitism training for all police officers, as the Ontario inspector general of policing recognized in his recent, first-ever notice of issue,” B’nai Brith said.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, stated that when the podcast, Project Olive Branch, published the program, “we said the issue went far beyond a deeply insensitive episode.”
“It raised serious questions about police impartiality, oversight and public trust at a time when the Jewish community is experiencing unprecedented levels of antisemitism and increasingly looking to law enforcement for protection,” CIJA said. “That’s why we, alongside the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, called for a formal investigation under the Community Safety and Policing Act—not simply an apology.”
“An independent investigation has now substantiated misconduct, finding sufficient evidence that the officers’ conduct and the failures in oversight undermined public trust in policing,” it stated. “The matter has been referred to the professionalism committee for penalty.”
“We expect accountability that reflects the seriousness of these findings, along with meaningful reforms to ensure this never happens again on an official Toronto police platform,” CIJA said.
